The Perfect Family
by SarcasticSlytherin00
Summary: When JJ finds herself in a situation where she has the option of leaving her problems of the past behind or facing them once and for all, JJ realizes that to move on with her future she must deal with the demons from her past. Established Jemily. Warnings: Strong language, mentions of suicide and self-harm. One-shot.


**_The Perfect Family_**

Tears filled Jennifer's eyes, but they didn't fall, she refused to show the weakness that the tears represented to her. She held the charm from the necklace in a loose grasp, lightly going over it with her thumb. This was the first time she had been back home since she left for college, and the first time she had visited the grave since in the same amount of time.

She felt someone behind her and, being the FBI agent she was, turned to check her surroundings. She smiled lightly when she saw her wife, she held her hand out to take Emily's into her own. Emily pulled her into her arms letting JJ lean into her shoulder. "How are you doing, babe?" she asked softly.

"I'm okay." JJ told her with a soft smile while she continued to look at her sister's grave. "It's weird being back here though."

"You don't have to see them if you don't want to sweetheart, we can just go back to the hotel for the night and leave tomorrow now that the case is over." Emily reminded her, knowing just how anxious and nervous JJ was about actually seeing them after almost fifteen years of having no contact, and for good reason.

JJ lowered her head for a moment before raising it to look her wife in the eyes, "Em, it's not that simple, I need to do this, not for them but for myself. I ran from the problems I faced with them a long time ago and I've been running from it ever since, I need to prove to myself that I can stand up and face it, that I'm stronger than they ever gave me credit for."

Emily nodded her head in understanding, "Alright, but I'll be right by your side the entire time." JJ smiled softly before kissing Emily softly and turning back to her sister's grave, she placed a hand on it and whispered 'I love you' before grabbing Emily's hand again and walking back to their car.

They drove silently to the house that JJ's older brother, Rick, had told her was the same as before, she had gone to visit him soon after they had arrived, the first time she had seen his home, he had visited her many times along with his family. In the small town, they got to the house quickly, much too quickly for JJ's liking. She paused for a moment before Emily spoke, "Are you ready babe?" she asked softly.

JJ sighed as she looked at the old, slightly rundown, house. "Yeah, I'm ready." She said. They both got out of the car and made their way up the walk way. JJ hesitated one last time before ringing the doorbell.

They only had to wait a moment before the door opened and a slightly wrinkled woman opened the door, she was shocked when she saw who was behind it, "Jenny, is that you?" she asked with what JJ thought was a surprising amount of joy.

JJ nodded slightly, "Hello Mother." She said with no emotion in her voice.

Sandy Jareau moved back to allow her daughter and her friend to enter the home. "Please come in, and Jenny please introduce me to your friend." She said in a pleasant tone.

Emily smiled, "Hello Mrs. Jareau, I'm Emily, JJ's" she paused for a moment, knowing how someone from a small town might react to the idea of gay marriage.

"She's my wife." JJ finished for her, not caring what her mother thought about that, she was proud of the marriage and she knew Emily was so nothing else mattered.

Sandy was silent for a moment and a small frown formed, "Oh" she said before recovering, "I'm sorry, Jenny, I'm just a little surprised, last Ricky had told us, you were married to a man and you had a little boy, Harry, was it?"

JJ nodded, "Henry, his father, Will, and I were never married and broke up a soon after Henry's birth and I married Emily three years ago," she explained getting a nod and smile from her mother.

"So, what brings the two of you here?" Sandy asks.

"We work as profilers for the FBI, there was a case here that we were working on." Emily explained.

"Oh, that awful murderer case that's been all over the news?" Sandy asked with fear in her voice.

JJ nodded but was cut off by the opening of the door, "Sandy, dear, there is a black police car outside, is everything alright?" Richard Jareau Sr. asked as he walked in the door. He was surprised when he saw the blonde-haired woman that he would recognize anywhere, "Jenny, you're here?" he asked in disbelief.

"Father, it's nice to see you." She said in the same tone than she had used with her mother.

"It is nice to see you too, Jenny, who is your friend?" Richard asked.

"This is my wife, Emily." JJ introduced them, getting a worse reaction from him than she had gotten from Sandy.

"You're wife? Rick said you were married to someone named William and that the two of you had a child together, how can you be married to a woman?" The retired pastor asked with a slight disgust showing in his tone.

"I never married Will, we do have a son, Henry, but I broke up with Will a long time ago and have been married to Emily for three years, we've been together for four." JJ explained the same thing that she had to her mother.

"Jennifer, it is a sin to be with someone of the same gender and to have a child out of wedlock, how could you come into my house with a life like this and parade it around like it is completely okay?" Richard asked with the disgust clear in his voice as he glared at his daughter.

JJ laughed, a cold and bitter laugh, "Don't start preaching to me about how horrible my life is and how everything that I have is against God's wishes. It's 2017, not 1956, I'm not parading around like things are okay, I am walking normally through life with the woman I love because it is okay." Her tone was harsh, but even.

Emily and Sandy were looking at each other as they stood in the middle of a battle between what seemed to be to very stubborn people. Sandy decided to speak up, "Maybe we should all just take a breath." She started, before Richard cut her off.

"Sandy, be quiet we are going to finish discussing the sins that I thought I had taught Jennifer were wrong, including honor thy mother and father, which she has seemingly forgotten with the others." Richard growled in a harsh tone.

Once again JJ had to laugh, "Bullying people into doing what you want, preaching to everyone about the wrongs they have committed, holding a superior attitude constantly, damn you really are the exact same as you were fifteen years ago, huh pops. Now tell me, how do you expect me to 'honor thy mother and father' when I was treated like shit by the people I'm supposed to honor since I was eleven years old? How am I supposed to respect the pair of you when you blamed an eleven-year-old girl for the death of her seventeen-year-old sister? How do I respect the people who decided that I could never be good enough for them, the people who are the reason I have scars from razor blades running down my arms and tights, the people who almost drove me to do the same thing my sister had done? Tell me, how do I respect someone who never gave me any reason to respect them?"

"Enough" Sandy yelled, Emily was relieved for a moment but then Sandy spoke again, "Jennifer you will not come into this house and treat your father with this amount of disrespect. Apologize to him now." She told her daughter in a sharp tone.

This all reminded JJ so much of how the seven years she was stuck in the house had gone, "No, I will not apologize for stating my beliefs, I will not be bullied into anything by either of you. I believe everything I said and I will stand by it. My life was torn apart when I was eleven, and I understand that it is harder to lose a daughter than it is to lose a sister, but blaming an eleven-year-old for the death doesn't make it easier, and what I don't think you realized was the moment you did that you lost two daughters not just one. From the time that I was eleven, it took me almost twenty years to finally understand that it wasn't actually my fault. What the two of you did to me during the last seven years that I was in this house constitutes as abuse."

Sandy once again rose her voice, "How dare you accuse us of something like that, we never laid a hand on you."

Emily was by JJ's side and decided now was the time to speak up, "Abuse isn't just physical, Jen was emotionally attacked in this house, she was verbally abused and suffered for the majority of her life, even after she left, with the accusations against her that you had drilled into her head as being true."

"Stay the hell out of this, you stupid dyke." Richard yelled hatefully towards Emily.

JJ finally let anger be the main part of her normally controlled speech, "How dare you speak to my wife like that." She yelled, fire showing in her eyes.

"JJ, it's okay." Emily told her.

"No, it's not okay, none of this is okay." JJ yelled before turning back to her parents and using a bitter, disgusted tone, "You know, I should actually thank you. The two of you made me want to do as well as I possibly could in school and on the field so that I could get the hell away from you. I pushed myself to get into a good school and a job far enough away that I would never have to see you again. My son has three amazing parents, parents who will never force him to do what they think is perfect and will always be supportive of who he is because I don't want my child to ever experience what I did, what Roseline did. I have an amazing life because of how much I pushed myself to be different than the two of you. That's why I came today as well, I ran away from my problems when I left, and that is something the two of you do at every challenge you face, so I came here to face my problems and prove to myself that I am nothing like either of you. So, thank you, because I am leaving here today not to run away in weakness like the two of you do, but in strength, because I know now that I am nothing like either of you. Never expect to see me or my family ever again." JJ told them before pulling Emily with her out the front door.

"I'm sorry." JJ said once they stepped outside.

"Why are you sorry, my love?" Emily asked in confusion.

"That didn't go anything like I planned, and you had to witness all of that." JJ told her.

"Sweetheart, we're married, I'm by your side for the good stuff and the bad remember, I promised I would be by your side through this and that stands for anything you go through no matter how bad it gets, and for the record I am so damn proud of you baby." Emily told her while planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Why are you proud of me?" JJ asked.

"Baby, you went in there and faced your fears head on, you took everything that was yelled at you and you stayed calm until the very end. You were so brave in there and I'm proud of you." The pair walked to the car, Emily opening JJ's door for her before going to her own side. Once they were in the car Emily turned to JJ, "I'm sorry that things didn't work out with your family babe." She told her softly.

JJ gave her a small smile, "I don't need them to be part of my family, I have you, Rick, the team, and Henry. I have the most perfect and amazing family that I could ever want, need, or hope for. I love you, Em, thank you for being part of my perfect family."

"I love you too, Jayje. You're what makes this family perfect." Emily responded before they drove off, headed back to the family they loved.

 ** _AN: Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoyed it._**


End file.
